Fertilizer distributer and seeder



(Model.) 4 Sheet-Sheet 1.

J. W. SPANGLER.

FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTBR AND SEEDER. No. 256,249.

Patented Apr. 11, 1882.

N. PEKERS, PhulS-Lnhognpher. wilshingmn n.c.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(ModeL) J. W. SPANGLER.

FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTER AND SEEDER.

No. 256,249. Patented Apr. 11,1882.

Ewen/L 07".

r. Washington. D. c.

4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(ModeL) J. W. SPANGLER;

FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTBR AND SEEDER.

Patented Apr. 11 1882.

:zzi i. 7

i LL Ewen/Z27:

(Model) v 4 Sheets-Shea}; 4.

J. W. SPANGLER.

I FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTER AND SEEDER.

No. 256,249. Patented'Apr. 11,1882.

To all whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB w. sensation/F YORK, PENNSYLVANIA.

FERTILIZER-DISTRIBUTER AND SEEDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 256,249, dated April 11, 1882,

I Application tiled December 14, 1880. Model.)

Be it known that I, JACOB W. SPANGLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at York, in the 'county of York and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fertilizer-Distributers or Seeders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a partof this specification.

This invention is in the nature of improve- .ment's in that .class of fertilizer-distributers or seeders represented in my United States Letters Patent, granted October 5, 1880, No. 233,040.

The improvements consist in the construction and arrangement of the feeding mechanism ofa force-feed fertilizer-distributer or seeder, substantially as hereinafter specified and claimed.

In the drawings illustrating my invention,

in the several figures of which like parts are correspondingly designated, Figure l is a perspective view of my feeders detached. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section of one feeder on line as a: of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the throat-cap detached. Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the feeder. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a part of a combined seeder and fertilizer, the fertilizer-hopper being in vertical cross-section, showing the false bottom, the agitator, and feeder, the view also showing the speed-changing mechanism. Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the feeder with the stirrers, and showing the feed-wheel adapted for sowing cotton-seed, corn, &c. Fig. 7 is a'vertical crosssection'of the lower portion of the fertilizerhopper with the 'feeder in position, showing the stirrers, the agitator, and the mode of securing the feeders in place, and the feed-wheel adapted for sowing cotton-seed, 850. Fig. Sis a top plan view of a feeder provided with a cap or plate for covering a portion of the teeth or cups of the feed-wheel for use in sowing very heavy or gummy fertilizer, this cap beingshown in cross-section in Fig. 9; and Fig. 10 is a top plan view of the feeder-plate, having a portion removed in line with the feed-wheel cups or teeth to permit the escape of fertilizer accidentally carried beyond the discharge orifice or throat.

This invention has for its object, in common with the above-referred to invention, the insuring of the feeding of the fertilizer in a finely-pulverulent state, free of. lumps or masses, and in a continuous flow. As in that" invention, so in this, the movement of the fertilizer from the hopper into. the discharge-throat is accomplished by means of a force-feed wheel having teeth, buckets, or cups disposed at an angle to its periphery. I prefer to use such a wheel, having a rotary motion in a horizontal plane, with its teeth or cups extending horizontally therefrom, This wheel (lettered a in the drawings) has disposed about itsv periphery, in the same horizontal plane at a reverse incline or slant to the direction of rotation in dicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, a number of teeth, b, whose edges, but particularly their front edges, 1), are beveled or brought to, or nearly to, a point below or next the bedor plate over which they travel, for the purpose of lessening resistance, and hence increasing the ease of motion of the wheel. These teeth will thus have in end or point view, as in Fig. 1, and in cross-section, a Vshape. The teeth will rise a little above the level of the face of the wheel, (see section Fig. 2,) in order to increase their capacity and permit of the making of the wheel with an economy of metal.

0 is the bed or plate, having a depressed portion, 0!, in which the-wheel rotates. Beneath the cavity,.and from the under side of the plate 0, extends inwardly a number of arms, 0 supporting a boss, 0 which receives .a stud 0r gudgeon, b preferably of chilled iron, extending from-the under side of the wheel, and the wheel is secured in this boss by a bolt, 61, extending therethrough and held by washers d d and a nut, d, the washer d being of leather or other pliant or soft material, and interposed between the washer d of metal, and the end of the gudgeon, the washer (1 extending over the boss, as shown, whereby the wheel is provided witlna substantially anti-friction bearing. I prefer to form an annular groove, to, in the under face of the wheel, into which fits a rib or flange, M, on the inner edge of the cavity, depression, or trough c of the bed-plate c, for the purpose of preventing the escape of the fertilizer at thatpoint; but practically this provision sometimes be dispensed with. The under face of the wheel is provided with cogs a with which engage a pinion on a shaft, 1, driven from the main shaft or driving-wheel shaft, as hereinafter described, whereby rotary motion is imparted to the feed-wheels a. The point of engagement of the pinions with the teed-wheels may be at 2 or 3, Fig. 4, and bearings 4. 4 may be provided on the under side of the plate for the said pinions. The oblique discharge-orificee(seeFig.4)crossesthetrough c in the path of travel of the teeth I), and is so arranged-via, obliquely-in order to ad- 'mit of two or three teeth being in course of passage and discharge over said orifice simultaneously, in order to insure continuous or uninterrupted feeding. Secured below the orifice is the discharge-throat e, to which the usual tubing is attached.

fis the spur-wheel or clearer, arranged in the orifice c, with its teeth projecting upwardly between the teeth of the feed-wheel, whence said clea-rerfreceives rotary motion, all as in the invention hereinbefore referred to.

f is a hollow cap, curved as shown, and arranged above the wheel a and over the discharge-orifice. It is provided with a tongue, f which projects through an opening in the plate 0 to the under side of the plate, where it is engaged by a spring, g. (See Fig. 4..) At the point of juncture of this tongue with the cap proper a notch,f is made, into which takes a lip, f of the opening in the plate 0 therefor, whereby a knife-edge or similar hearing is afforded for said cap. The spring 9 may be awire or fiat spring, suitably attached to the under side of the plate 0, and in such manner that its tension upon the tongue and cap may be adjusted or regulated. I have shown it slippedin a bridge,g, with its short endjammed against an incline, g and its other end engagingone of a numberot'notches,f ,inthetongue f of the cap. The cap f laps over the wheel a and the edge of the cavity 0, and is curved in conformity with the curvature of the cavity, and has a point or plow, f

In the operation of this feed-wheel the wheel moves in the direction of the arrow,.and the fertilizer is carried in that way by it. Now, if any hard substance is metwith and forwarded by thewheel, it comes in contact with the plow f of the throat-cap f, and the angle of inclination of this point or plow where it crosses the teeth and its curvature concentric with the wheel are such that the obstruction will be lifted by it from the wheel and thrown back into the hopper; but should the obstruction be so firmly held by the teeth, or be so small as that the plow will not Iemove'it, said plow will yie1d,and the lip f serving as a fulcrum, the cap will rise to permit the passage under it of the obstruction and the discharge of the obstruction through the throat, it being lifted out of the teeth by the clearer. Thus any damage to or breaking ofl' of the teeth or other portions of the mechanism will be prevented. So soon as the obstruct-ion passes beneath the forward edge of the throat-cap said cap is by its spring g returned to its seat, thus preventing the loss or undue escape of the fertilizer. It will be understood that this throat-cap, besides having this function, also has its primal office of covering the discharge-orifice to prevent the outflow of the fertilizer. The salient edges of the cap f with respect to the feed-wheel are keen enough to cut up any elods orlumps of fertilizer, and it thereby aids in keeping the fertilizer pulverulen t. closely upon the feed-wheel, acts as a scraper to turn aside the superposed material and to confine the discharge of material to that contained in the teeth or cups of the feed-wheel.

The bed-plate, the feed-wheel, the clearer, and the throat-cap, as justdescribed, constitute what I denominate my feeder, and I furnish these feeders so constructed as an article of manufacture, ready for application in the hoppers of ordinary fertilizer-(iistributers.

In placing my feeders in the hopper (see Figs. 5 and 7) I prefer to make a groove, h,in the inner face of the front Wall of the hopper and slip into said groove the edge of the plate 0 until the lug or flange b on said plate shall abut against the said hopper-wall. A leveling-strip, it' one be necessary, may be laid underneath the opposite end of the plate 0, and above such plate is placed a strip or batten of wood, h,which may be the length of a feeder or of thehopper. This batten I hold removably in place by a lever-button, k pivoted to the rear wall of the hopper and extending upwardly to within convenient reach. By this construction I am enabled to easily and quickly insert and remove any of the feeders, and repairs or renewals may be quickly and correctly made by the farmer without sending his machine to a shop, the feeders being sold singly as well as in sets. I also avoid the use of fastening-bolts, screws, &c., for securing the feeders in the hopper. These feeders may be appropriately spaced in a hopper by interposing strips or (see dotted lines, Fig. 1) between the plates 0.

The preferred form of agitator for my fertilizer-distributer consists of a bar, 1', having'an appropriate number of laterally-projecting fingers, arms, or ribs, 6. This bar I hang in the hopper loosely above the feeders by means of a crank, 6 detachably secured to a coupling,

This edged cap, fitting IIO i placed upon the bar about midway thereof,

parts a longitudinal reciprocation to the agitator.

To prevent arching or agglomeration of the fertilizer in the hopper I provide stirrers composed of bent wires or thin strips k, preferably secured to and turning with the feed-wheel a. The bolt (1 of such feed-wheel may be conveniently employed to hold these stirrers. These stirrers extend over the teeth of the feed-wheel, and are intersected or crossed above or below over the teeth by stationary wires or strips k, attached to the bed-plate 0 or other fixed 'portion. The stirrers k and 7c" in their passage or crossing will effectually break up any massing fertilizer, and so insure pulverulency.

Some kinds of fertilizer are very gummy, and it is next to impossible to distribute such by'the ordinary distributer, because said fer tilizers are so heavy and adherent. I with my feeders can sow any fertilizer to me known, and in working the above-named gummy stuff I find it advantageous to keep its weight off the feed-wheels and supply the material to the wheels gradually. To effect this I place above thefeeders and the agitator a perforated false bottom, 1. (Sec Fig.5.) The perforations are large holes, arranged not over the wheels, but between the wheels of two adjacent feeders, so that the fertilizer descending between the feeders will be progressively ad'- vanced to the feed-wheels in quantities sufficient to sow and without burdening the wheel. This false bottom will be found very useful in lightening the draft of the machine, because of its taking the weight of the fertilizer ofi" the wheels, and thereby admitting of the more easy rotation of such wheels. In my wheels, however, the bearing or pivot or shaft of the Wheel takes the strain and burden, while the wheel is driven with, an increased leverage by means of the cogs far removed from the center of burden. g

It will be noticed that my feed-wheel works in a trough, c, which is always full of fertilizer. There is hence, especially in gummy fertilizers, an unnecessary amount of burden or strain placed upon the draft in carrying the teeth through this mass. To remedy this I make use of a coveriiigplate, m, (see Figs. Sand 9,) which is fastened down by bolts m, or one bolt, m, and two lugs or lips, m to the bed-plate 0, and covering all but, say, four or more teeth. This plate is arranged over the wheel opposite and in the rear of the discharge-throat. It has its inner edge flanged or turned downwardly, (see'afl) so as to fit closely to the feedwheel, just next the teeth, to prevent the infiow thereunder of the fertilizer. This cap will also prevent the massing or clogging in the teeth of the fertilizer, and may be applied and removed at pleasure. This plate at may be made a fixture, in which case the cavity or trough 0 may be bottomless underneath it, as indicated in Fig. 10. Where the trough is thus cut away any fertilizer clinging to the teeth after their passage over the dischargeorifice will dropout, and hence clean the teeth.

To effect a change of speed of the feedwheels I employ on the shaft 1, Fig. 5, (any one of a number of different sizes,) pinions m and drive such pinion m from the shaft j by a train of gearing, n a n The gear a" may be an idle-gear sustained at the pivoted end of a lever, 0, and the gear a is also sustained by said lever, and is adjustable in a slot, 0, therein. The rear end, 0 of the lever 0 is adjustably connected to a slotted arm,p, operated by an eecentric,p, on the shaft of the boot-elevating mechanism to throw the wheel a into and out of gear with the pinion m of the feed-wheel shaft 1. This engagement and disengagement of the pinions m n is effected automatically by the lowering and raising of the boots. The wheel a is adjustvarious sizes of pinions used on the feed-wheel shaft 1. The lever 0 may be pivoted to the frame, or on the shaft of the seeder, or on the driving-shaft direct.

My feed-wheels are adapted admirably to sowing or planting cotton-seed,corn, and similar seeds, the only change necessary being in the feed-wheel teeth, and this consists in covering in those teeth that are not to act as seedcells. (See Figs. 6 and 7.) Ileave open, say, two or three teeth, I), on opposite portions of the wheel, and cover over the intervening teeth, which are thereby open underneath to receive the clearer-teeth, but closed above against the entrance thereinto of seed. I effect ed in the slot in the lever 0 to mesh with the this closing by casting a thin skin or web, 1",

over the teeth, so as to leave the cavities s'between them and below the skin for the clearerteeth. There may be two or more sets of open teeth, in proportion to thesize of the machine. The object in making the feeding-teeth in sets is to sow the seed intermittently, rather than continuously, as would be the case were all the teeth open.-

In Fig. 6 the covered teeth or cavities s are indicated by broken lines, and the teeth proper are shown in full lines.

In sowing cotton-seed,which is of an adherent or mas'sy nature, owing to the filaments surrounding each seed, my wheel and the clearers k 70 are highly successful in separating the seeds, pre ting clogging, and insuring regularfeed.

When the feeder is used as a seeder the clearer f will be arranged more nearly centrally of the disch arge-orifice 6, so that a larger throat may be afforded for the discharge of the seeds.

When used for fertilizer-distributing it is ar ranged nearer the edge of the orifice next to the advancing teeth, so as to prevent the loss of material, and so as to afford a large space in the rear, whereby obstructions passing under the capf' may be more readily ejected.

As shown in Fig. 7, the wall of the trough c is more nearly vertical, and comes close to the points of the teeth when the feeder is used for seed-sowing. This insures the retention of the seed in the teeth or cups.

Itwill be apparent that the feed-wheel having the covered teeth is also adapted for distributing fertilizer; but it will be seen that the feed will be intermittent instead ofcontinuous.

As shown in the severalfigures, the teeth of the spur-wheel orclearer f have converging or V or diamond shaped faces, whereby their-action is knife-like in cutting out the material held in the feed-wheel teeth.

What I claim is- 1. The combination of the rotating toothed feed-wheel a, provided with an axial gudgeon, 11 a bed-plate, 0, provided with a bearing to receive said gudgeon, and a connecting-bolt, d, washers d d thereon, and a nut, (1 substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a bed-plate having a discharge-orifice and a horizontally rotating toothed feed-wheel to advance the substance to be distributed to said orifice, ot' the cap f, arranged over said wheel above the orifice, and having the plow or pointf curved as shown, and edged tangentially to the feed-wheel, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In a feeder having a bed-plate and means therein for distributing fertilizer or seed, a cap to cover the discharge-orifice, hung in said opening as upon an axis, and provided with a rearwardly-extended tongue projecting downwardly through an opening in said plate and engaged by a spring, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. In a sowing-machine feeder, a bed-plate having a cavity or trough to receive a feedwheel, and provided with a rib or flange, in combination with said feed-wheel, having a groove in its under face to receive said rib or flange to prevent the escape of the material to be sewn, substantially as described.

5. A force-feed wheel for sowing-machines,

provided with alternating series'of closed or covered cups or teeth, and open cups or teeth adapted to sow or distribute either seed or fertilizer, substantially as described.

6. In a feeder for sowing-machines, having a bed-plate, a toothed or cupped feed-wheel, and a cap,f, over the discharge-orifice, a coveringplate, 022, arranged, as shown, over a number of such teeth or cups of the feed-wheel so as to expose less than all of such teeth or cups at any one time to receive the material to be distributed, whereby clogging and burdening of such teeth and wheel are prevented, substantially as described.

7. In a feeder for sowing-machines, having a cap, f, over the discharge-orifice, the combination of a toothed or cupped feed-wheel, a covering-plate, m, to cover two or more of its teeth or cups, as shown, and a bedplate to receive said wheel and plate, and having an open bottom beneath the covering-plate, substantially as described.

8. In a feeder forsowing-machines, having a bed-plate, a toothed or cupped feed-wheel, and

a cap, f, over the disch argeorifice, a coveringplate, at, arranged over a number of the teeth or cups of the feed-wheel, as shown, so as to expose less than all of such teeth or cups at any one time to receive the material to be distributed, as described, and provided with a flange or lip, m, overhanging the teeth or cups at their inn-er ends, to make a close joint with the wheel, substantially as and for the purpose,

of the feed-wheel by which the material is fed,

substantially as described.

11. The spur-wheel or clearer provided with teeth or spurs of diamond shape in cross-section, and adapted to mesh with the teeth of the feed-wheel, substantially as and for the purpose described.

'12. A feed-wheel having oblique teeth, the whole arranged and adapted to be rotated in a horizontal plane, combined with a spur-wheel, the teeth or spurs whereof project between the teeth of said feed-wheel to clear said teeth, the said spur-wheel deriving rotary motion from said feed-wheel by its rotation, substantially as described.

l3. A'feed-wheel having teeth projecting obliquely from its body in the plane of the body, the whole arranged and adapted to be rotated in a horizontal plane, combined with a clearer or spur-wheel arranged in a plane intersecting at a substantially right angle to the plane of rotation of the feed-wheel, the teeth of the two wheels intermeshing and the clearer deriving motion from the feed-wheel, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof- I atfix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

J. W. SPANGLER.

Witnesses:

JNo. A. METZILL, W. Y. LINK. 

